The importance of regular bowel function to overall health has been greatly overestimated throughout history. Starting with the Egyptians and Greeks early physicians promoted the idea that putrefaction or stagnation of the bowels was associated with disease and named this process “autointoxication”. During the early 19th century, studies supported the idea that ptomaine poisoning, the degradation of proteins in the colon by anaerobic bacteria, generated toxic amines, which led to autointoxication. Among the leading proponents of autointoxication was Metchnikoff, a Jewish zoologist, who hypothesized that intestinal toxins can accumulate and led to systemic diseases. Because of his work as well as others, the early treatment of disease thought to be caused by autointoxication centered on altering intestinal flora to prevent the breakdown of proteins. This theory gained momentum and in the early 20th century some surgeons even advocated colectomy to cure intestinal autointoxication. By the 1920s, this medical doctrine fell into disrepute as scientific advances failed to give support to this theory. Recently many warnings have been made about “bowel irregularity” and its role in autointoxication.  read more »

I am finally doing it. After sitting on the sidelines and hearing all there is to hear about colon cleansing for the past few years I am entering the fray. I would like to start at the beginning.  read more »